The Wave of Unlimited Influence, 7-Eleven’s Slurpee Summit and More in Capital Eye Opener: November 19

Your daily dose of news and tidbits from the world of money in politics:

HOORAY FOR UNLIMITED MONEY: The 2010 vintage of special interest groups has a new image.

Not only was there a rash of upstart organizations this year, but new types of groups as well. When looking at the top 50 non-party political groups that spent money on advertising and independent expenditures this election cycle, a Center for Responsive Politics study finds that both the number of groups not disclosing their donors and the number of groups collecting unlimited amounts of money more than doubled since the 2008 election.

The study also finds that 64 percent of these top outside groups had not been active in previous election cycles. In the 2008 election cycle, 32 percent of the groups making independent expenditures were new.

Citizens United, in addition to other recent federal-level court decisions such as SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission, helped to change the landscape of outside influence by forming the “super PAC” — an independent expenditure group that can raise and spend unlimited amount of money from corporations, individuals, labor unions, and trade associations. It also allowed groups registering with the Internal Revenue Service under section 501(c) to use unlimited corporate and union treasury money to pay for direct advocacy expenditures.

In 2008, most of the outside groups spending money on direct advocacy were registered political action committees that could only use the money raised from contributions of $5,000 or less. There were also a handful of “qualified non-profits” which could spend unlimited amounts of money from undisclosed donors, but had to reveal the donor if the contribution was earmarked for a specific expenditure.

In 2010, 15 “super PACs” emerged in the top 50 biggest spenders list along with 11 501(c) nonprofit groups and two “qualified nonprofits”. The other 22 groups were political action committees. Not surprisingly, the number of groups that do not disclose their donors more than doubled in 2010 from six to 13.

The graphs below show the difference between the two cycles.

OH, THANK HEAVEN… BIPARTISANSHIP IS DELICIOUS: OpenSecrets.org’s own Megan Wilson reports that 7-Eleven, the maker of the frozen Slurpee beverage, is cashing in on President Barack Obama’s joke that Republicans have been “sipping on Slurpees” while Democrats have been hard at work. A “Slurpee Summit” was suggested to unite the two parties at the White House, and 7-Eleven took over.

Starting in its headquarters city of Dallas, the company began a tour that eventually led them to Washington D.C.’s Union Station on Thursday — one of the closest Metro stops to the U.S. Capitol — where the company gave out free Slurpees and T-shirts that stated, “Party animals unite.” It features an elephant silhouette lifting a Slurpee to a donkey silhouette.

“[Rep.] John Boehner [R-Ohio] and Obama rescheduled their Slurpee summit, but we didn’t,” said one 7-Eleven worker handing out the free shirts as he smiled.

“D.C. OR BUST” read a sign posted on the portable Slurpee dispenser outside the popular Metro stop.

7-Eleven is a modest financial player in politics, with its political action committee usually donating around $10,000 to $20,000 to federal candidates each election cycle. However the PAC has not donated money during the 2010 election cycle. 7-Eleven spent more than $1.25 million on lobbying from 1999 to 2006 when it ended its federal lobbying presence. 7-Eleven became a subsidiary to Seven & I Holdings Co. in 2005, and since 2007 it has spent $510,000 on lobbying. In 2010, Seven & I Holdings was the 35th highest lobbying spender within the retail industry, according to the Center’s research.

In the 2008 election cycle, its corporate PAC gave $9,500 to federal-level candidates — 10 Republicans and four Democrats. It also gave $500 to Texas Republican Rep. Michael Burgess’s PAC, the Lone Star Leadership PAC. In that same cycle, 7-Eleven’s corporate PAC received a $9,000 donation from Shell Oil.

According to the company, it sells enough Slurpees each year to fill 12 Olympic-size swimming pools.

Media Contact

Viveca Novak
(202) 354-0111
press@crp.org

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